Play "Hideout Helm" from DK64!
Gruntilda's Lair
When the Friends of Time landed in the room beneath the top of the tower, four blue Gruntlings growled in surprise before charging at them. Luca dashed and headbutted one in the gut, sickening the gorilla-ogre as the Fishboy socked him in the jaw. Onari hovered her Nimbo above one to pound it with lightning. Tanis ran around and wrapped another in her wrapping, leaving Nefertine to punch and kick it into submission. Tupu used her squirrel-like reflexes to dodge and bite a Gruntling from multiple angles, later jumping and rapidly kicking it in the face until the ogre was KO'ed. "Maybe they are in here!" Tupu pounced a door with a plank locking it, trying to pry it off with her teeth. "Uck! It is much harder than the trees in New York!"
"(Wait, there's a sign on it!)" Nefertine pointed out the Egyptian writing on the door. "('Three from the arrow stone'?)"
"Arrow stone?" Facilier repeated. "Ah! Look!" One of the stone tiles was shaped like an arrow. He tracked three tiles from its direction and asked Onari to strike it open. Underneath was a switch that would unlock the door. The friends jumped for joy and raced down a flight of stairs. They climbed down to the shore of a flooded chamber with electric generators set around the water. The door on their shore was locked, a cord connected to the water.
"I wonder if the switch is underwater?" Luca said. "Onari, can you hit those electric things?"
"Hai!" Onari struck bolts at the generators, depowering them and making the water safe to swim. Luca rammed a switch and opened the door. "Whoa! Luca, why have you transformed?!"
"Huh? Oh, it's because I'm a Fishman." Luca blushed. "I guess I forgot to mention?"
"We have a Fishgirl in our school!" Tanis clapped. "Don't worry, guys, he's perfectly normal!"
"(As normal as a talking mummy!)" Nefertine laughed.
"You are all such weird people!" Tupu said, scratching her ear with her foot. The friends all shared a laugh! The next room had a river of lava, so hot that Nimbo-san grew dehydrated and couldn't carry Onari across. Tupu walked along the footprint trail on the left wall, which led up to some stalactites. She had to jump from each stalactite to the other's footprints, later to continue walking across the ceiling. Tupu stopped to wait for small lavafalls to finish pouring before it was safe to continue. The wild girl pressed a switch at the end, causing sprinklers to activate. The lava solidified, and Nefertine gave it a few good taps to make sure it was safe.
They all joined Tupu at the next door, leading into a large where Grublin Hoods were mounted on pillars, training arrows on the intruders, and blue bulls called Bigbutt were prepared to charge them. "This area looks tricky." Raymond said. "Say, Tupu, you're good with animals, right? Maybe you can tame one of those bulls."
"(What are these leaves on the wall?)" Nefertine pointed at eight leaves on the right wall, two for each color between green yellow, orange, and blue.
"It reminds me of something from the park." Tupu observed. The leaves had arrow designs circling them, so she spun the leaves in that direction. They were magically attached to the wall to make it easy. As she spun them faster, the leaves became a portal. An orange-haired girl in a yellow dress tumbled out. "Dot!"
"Tupu? W-Where am I now? I just fell through a swirly hole and…"
Tupu took a minute to explain what they were doing. "Can you tame one of those bulls so we can get through this room?"
"Sure! I'd love to help!" Both redheads ran and hopped on one of two Bigbutts. The bulls tried to fling them off, but once they were under control, the girls rammed and crumbled the wooden pillars supporting the Grublin Hoods. There was a small door for the group to continue through, too big for the bulls to fit, but there were two switches on the wall with the Bigbutts' faces. Ramming them individually didn't activate anything, but when they were struck at the same time, a secret door opened. It led to a room with a familiar blue ostrich. "Road Runner? What are you doing here?" Dot asked.
Road Runner stood at the beginning of a wide, spiraling path with a lava pit in the center. There was obstacles along the path, which would end at a ring of fire with a Jinjo cage. By pressing a switch at the beginning, the fire around the Jinjo would disperse. Dot quickly rode Road Runner up the path, jumping a flamethrower, ducking a higher one, followed by jumping gaps within blockades on their left or right, though it took a few attempts before jumping successfully. They jumped over some flaming spots, then had to run up a narrow, zigzaggy area, in which Road Runner wound up slipping and flapping back down to the bottom. Time ran out, trapping the cage back in the fire.
"That blue ostrich is even slower than a certain red bird, that's fo' sho-r!"
"Fo' sho-r?" Raymond repeated. "…What? Wait, she's trying to rhyme 'slower' by saying 'for sure'… fo' sho'? Ugh, I dunno, man."
Dot tried the challenge again, helping Road Runner dodge the hazards with better skill and succeeding in saving the Jinjo! "Say, was that a Gray Jinjo?" Raymond cocked a brow in interest. "Funny… I heard that color went extinct."
"Poor Road Runner. You're so tired." Dot patted the animal. "I'm sorry, guys, but I should take this guy home. I hope you can find Robi and Jolene."
"Thank you for helping, Dot!" Tupu waved.
While Dot returned to the portal, the friends continued through the normal door, going down more stairs. They entered a large room with a sandy floor and four sphinxes representing Grunty, a bear, a Mum-mum, and a skull with three feathers. While the others dealt with the actual Mum-mums and Slappas in the room, Nefertine translated the clue on a plaque. "(Kick the liar in the butt.)"
The Egyptian then investigated each sphinx and translated its clue on the chest. The Grunty one said, That dirty bear took Mum-mum's cookie while Mumbo stared! Mumbo must've been the skull. Mumbo's plaque said, Mumbo see witch give poison cookie to Mum-mum, but bear save her. The bear's plaque read, That cookie tasted horrible. I should've let Mum-mum eat it. Mum-mum's plaque read, The witch baked my favorite scorpion cookie for my birthday!
"(Then… the liar is Mumbo, because the bear didn't save Mum-mum?)" Nefertine walked around and kicked Mumbo's butt. The sphinx winced, "Ooooog!" and straightened up while clutching his rump. His standing revealed a staircase underneath! "(It worked! …I can't feel my toes! Ouch!)"
"Never kick a sphinx without footwear." Tanis applied a tiny amount of bandage for Nefertine. "Still, that was pretty rude of Mr. Bear to take Mum-mum's cookie." The angry mummy climbed the bear's leg and walked over onto his nose. "A little dust oughta teach you a lesson!" Tanis spun and released a cloud of dust over the bear's nose.
"Sniff-sniff! ACHOO!" Tanis was sneezed off, and the act opened a secret door in the bear's chest.
"Hey, good find, kiddo!" Raymond beamed. "Let's see what's under here!" It was a stairway leading down to a room with a quicksand pit. Tanis had to use her bandages to swing a series of handles along the wall, having to react quick with flames burning the handles. At the end, Tanis successfully rescued a Gray Jinjo! The group returned and entered the passage underneath Mumbo, arriving at a sand river tunnel with wall segments that rose up and down. Nefertine would be needed again, because she could meld into these mural walls! She first merged into the one beside them, then would jump to the first one that bobbed out of the sand, and from there make her way across the others as they either connected or rotated to face each other. Some of those murals had Snippets that she'd have to jump on. The last mural would rotate into the wall, leading to a hidden room with a switch.
Pressing the switch would make all the stones lay flat, allowing the others to use them as platforms. They regrouped going into the next passage; opposite of the sand river, they had to travel up a rapid. Luca took the honor, mustering all the speed his fishy form could and dodging the Quarries (boulders with eyes) that came washing down. Ramming the switch at the top would cause the river to tilt the other way, allowing them to jump and ride the Quarries down. However, when Luca saw up the underside of the upturned river, he saw a submerged treasure chest under the platform they were just standing. Luca swam up the opposite way, dodging jellyfish along with Quarries and suffering a few zaps. But his determination allowed him to hit the chest!
It spawned a portal atop the platform, from which Jim Lad and Matilda flew out! "Blimey! Where the heck are we, Tilda?"
"I didn't expect Krabs' treasure to have a portal." Matilda glanced down as Luca climbed on the platform. "AH, JIM, A SEA MONSTER!"
"Wot?!" Jim frantically swung his sword.
"Wait, stop-stop! I'm a Fishman, not a monster!"
"Oh, so ya are." Jim stopped. "Hehe, I don't see many of you lot."
"Ooo, Jim!" Matilda pointed up another passage that had just opened, from which another river flowed. "Look at that golden chest up there! Looks valuable!"
"Hey, so it does! Oi, Fishface," Jim jumped on Luca's back, "give us a ride, why don't ya?"
"Who even are you guys?!"
"Please?" Matilda jumped on. "We'll share some of the loot with you."
"Oh, man." Luca swam up the river despite the weight of the two kids, but it would rise into a waterfall and prevent him from swimming further. Jim and Matilda saw a rope hanging above the fall, so they linked a rope between them as Matilda threw Jim to grab the hanging rope. Jim would pull up his first mate, and the duo would afterward jump across a line of Buzzbombs. The treasure's platform elevated, but the pirates used the Buddy Throw to jump platforms. A Click-Clack crawled onto a platform, but Jim could knock it out with a stomp and throw it up to KO a Zinger blocking the last jump.
The duo landed up and opened the golden chest with big, greedy eyes… "What's this?" Jim frowned in disappointment. "It's just a measly bird in a cage."
"Well, let's set the poor thing free. It looks sad." Matilda did so. They were shocked when the Jinjo poofed back to normal and circled them, cheering its little, "Whee!"
"Wait! Come back 'ere, bird! You look valuable! Matilda, what were you thinking?!"
"Hehe, don't worry, Jim. Maybe it blessed us with good luck?"
"Oi don't feel very lucky. C'mon, let's get outta here." The two surfed down and the river and into the exit portal.
"Well, those two sure came and went…" Luca shrugged.
The team entered a towering shaft with several floating fans. "Looks like it's up to you, Onari. Go look for a switch up there!" Raymond pointed. With an affirmative "Hai!" the Yōkai flew up. She avoided the fans that would blow Nimbo down and would bash the Zingers flying to sting her. Onari pressed the switch on the ceiling and opened the door for her friends. The following room was an abyss with fans blowing from the walls, and Tintops (ovular robots) floating around the currents. Onari could easily fly down the abyss, but the Tintops were immune to her lightning. The bottom of the pit (just over the chasm) had a small switch with a squirrel picture, one that Onari couldn't press.
"Ooo, a drink!" Tupu beamed, taking a bottle of potion from a table. "I am thirsty."
"Tupu, no!" Luca shouted, but failed to stop her from drinking the brew. Tupu poofed and turned into a squirrel.
"There's a switch down there," Onari said upon returning, "but it looks like… that animal needs to be on it."
"Looks like you'll have to fly down there, Tupu." Raymond said. "Use those fans to guide you. Onari, protect her from those things." Tupu would glide along the fans' currents, but the Tintops would open and link electric beams through the currents. Onari quickly flew to strike one of the Tintops in a pair, stopping the electric as Tupu safely passed through. The squirrel landed by the switch and pressed it. The door opened, and a stairway of platforms appeared for the others to climb down. Past the next door was an Anti-form Cauldron for Tupu to change back.
They entered a library full of dark-red Gruntlings, a magic cauldron, and a sealed door in the back. While the kids began to fight the monsters, Raymond went to look through the window in the door. He saw a Life Clock and a withered, short man with big, wrinkly feet trapped in a glass prison. "Kids! I think Robi's in this room! He's being drained by one of those clocks, we don't have much time!"
"How do we get in there?" Tanis asked.
Raymond looked at the symbols above the door. One was a beehive, one a disco ball, one a jellyfish, and one a rose. "Kids, look for these symbols! They might be on books!"
"Huff, huff, hai…" Onari panted. The kids were barely able to knock out the Gruntlings; they were stronger than the first batch. But with Robi's life on the line, they sucked in the fatigue and stood firm. Tupu followed a footprint trail up to a higher platform and found the beehive book. She fell into it like a portal! Tupu landed in a giant beehive, where she needed to climb-jump her way up a wall of honey. On the bright side, she treated herself to a quick snack with each jump, avoiding the Zingers that zoomed in patterns over the honey. At the top of the wall, Tupu hit a switch. This would zap her out of the book, but also highlight the beehive above the door.
Onari found the rose book on the chandelier. This took her to a dense cluster of brambles on which roses grew, seeing the night sky through the thicket. Onari maneuvered past the thorns, hearing buzzing sounds as Darkbuzzes (darkballs with eyes) came zooming at her, but she could bat them away with her drumstick. A pair of cannons shot large, red missiles with faces on her way to the switch, but Onari was able to outrun them and hit it. Luca found the jellyfish book on the shelf above a sink, falling inside to a sea of jellyfish. The Fishboy simply had to swim through a bright-pink labyrinth of the giant creatures, taking advantage of their swim patterns and evading the electric beams between. Luca reached a section with a current that tried to blow him down into the tentacles, but he could maneuver himself over the safe tops of jellyfish to spring him back up. He could then make it to the switch and press it.
Nefertine found a wall she could "mural" into and go behind one of the shelves, discovering the disco ball book behind it. She jumped in and became "muralized" on a wall of light beads, similar to the Osirins' pyramid. It played a fast-paced rhythm that sounded like the song "Heart Attack," with red, yellow, blue, and green beads quickly changing on and off. Nefertine memorized the rhythm and timed her jumps as best as she could. She then had to jump a stairway of birds that would swoop down, their beads switching on in sync with when Nefertine needed to jump. Her platforming was rewarded with a switch!
With all four pressed, the door to Robi's chamber opened. "We did it!" Tupu jumped. "Let's go, everyone!" The five kids raced inside.
"Kids, don't be hasty!" Raymond yelled. "There could be-"
"ROBIII!" The boy's prison suddenly stretched away from their reach, as did the rest of the chamber.
"Rakakakakaka!" The witch's cackle signaled the arrival of four magic bubbles, floating down to trap them (with Nefertine sharing hers with Tanis). Gruntilda flew above them on her broomstick. "You thought you'd won, but here I fly, to ruin your fun and make you cry! Robi you will never save, now all your luscious youth I'll shave!"
"Dang it!" Raymond cursed. "I can't fight her without my wand. There's gotta be a way…" There was an exit door on the opposite side of the library. "But if Robi's there, where's Jolene? Maybe she's somewhere else."
…
During this time, Jolene was making her way up the Mysterious Lair. She crossed the trench of trees with her clay prints. She muralized into the wall beside the sphinx room's sandfall, entered the shaft behind it, and Rock Jumped to the top. She reached the lake area, using her clay flippers to swim underwater and swim through the tunnel to the upper cliff. These were all things she learned traveling with Robi and this route was embedded in her mind. But one big problem impeded her from climbing higher: she couldn't fly. She could neither use the Wing Pad here, and even trying to climb Oni Mountain again would bear the same problem.
Jolene walked under the cliff of the tallest building, wondering if she could climb it by herself? …But suddenly, a door opened in the cliff. "It just leads back out here." Raymond observed. "Does that mean Jolene is…JOLENE!" The doctor was ecstatic as he ran to lift Jolene by the arms. "Girl, what happened?! Never mind, we need to get in there. All the timelines are being invaded, and now all those kids are captured! They teamed up trying to save Robi."
"Ro..Robi?"
"He's in here, but Grunty's there, too! I don't think the two of us will be a match for her…"
"Robi's… in there?" Lighting up, the child jogged through the library and into the prison room. A stick fell out of her dress, having been jogged loose from Raymond's uplifting.
"Wait, Jolene! Don't let her trap you-" As soon as she was inside, the door sealed and locked Raymond out. "JOLENE!" (Play "Furnace Fun" from Banjo-Kazooie!)
"Uhhh…" Jolene needed a moment to process this room. There were several, tile-made bridges over a lava pit, and a huge sign reading, Grunty's Furnace Fun! The witch herself stood at the podium at the end, before Robi's prison. The Life Clock machine also had cords attached to the Friends of Time's bubbles, which were at the ends of the bridges.
"You've journeyed far, high and low, now welcome to my spicy show!!" Colorful fireworks burst from the lava. "You may be strong, but it matters not. Use your brains or you'll be hot. Answer the questions that I speak to rescue these meddling sneaks. But I doubt your brain is up to par, for only with help did you make it this far. So, I'm sure somewhere along the way," Jolene stood on the edge and looked into the lava fearfully, "you'll make a slip and make Grunty's day!" Jolene jumped back when a firework shot up. "Now, take your stand upon the first tile, my quizzes are nasty and vile!"
Jolene stepped on a blue tile with a yellow "?" but couldn't walk farther. "He's bald and fat and bound to lose, in Central Park, you fought…?" The choices on the large screen were Scoobz, Shoobz, and Stoobz.
Jolene stared dumbfounded; she had forgotten that guy's name. …But then she remembered a remark about why he and Tupu hated each other: something about shoes. "Shoobz?"
"Drat! You answered well, so you may pass, but my next one will be your last." Jolene walked onto an eyeball space. "See the picture on my screen, do you know where you have been?" The large screen showed a picture of fluffy yellow clouds against a night sky. The answers were Portorosso Sky, Egypt Sky, or Oni Mountain. Luca tried to yell that those were the clouds above his town, but his voice couldn't carry out of the bubble.
"Uhhh…" Jolene didn't remember where she saw those weird clouds. Well, they were yellow. Egypt was yellow. "Egypt? OW!" She was zapped.
"Sorry, dear, but you were wrong. Just drop and burn, it won't take long. Now, take a look at this brat and tell me his surname, you ugly rat!" Grunty showed a picture of Alberto. Jolene knew he was Luca's friend, but didn't know his surname. The choices were Paguro, Scorfano, or Marcovaldo. Luca tried to yell her the answer, but it fell on deaf ears.
"Um…uh…the middle… one?"
"You got it right, though it was a guess. So, choose your path, you slow-minded pest." The next space was a freebie with a cookie. The bridge forked and the left route would lead her to Tupu. The first tile leading there was a note. "Listen well and make your choice: which character has this dumb voice?" The speakers played, 'Ram, ram, ram, ram!'
"(That's Piramses' voice!)" Nefertine exclaimed. "(But I never introduced him! Oh, no!)"
The choices were Stinkerton, Micerina, and Piramses. "Uhh…ram, ram, ram… That name has 'ram' in it."
Grunty groaned at her technical correct answer. The next space depicted the "KND 3rd" logo. "I hope you know your operatives well! How many kids are in Sector L?" 3, 5, or 6. Jolene held up three fingers. She was allowed to the next eye space. "Take a look at this nose. Who is this person, who knows?" It showed a picture of a small, round red nose above a mustache. Massimo, Shoobz, or Porky? Jolene thought the mustache reminded her of Mario… and the only name close to that was Massimo. She was correct! Next was a note space. "Listen well, you tubby clown, which collectable makes this sound?" She played a brief Egyptian jingle. White Feather, Glowbo, or Sun Sand? Jolene easily remembered the Sun Sand's pickup sound.
The next space was a red skull. "Get this wrong and no second try! You'll flip right off and then you'll die! The piano boy in Peanutville, tell me his name or get killed!" Linus Van Pelt, Schroeder, or Pig-Pen. Jolene thought for a minute… she remembered Lucy getting Schroeder a piano for Christmas. Jolene answered a correctly and survived! She reached the space before Tupu: a Time Trial. Jolene was magically transported to the merry-go-round sub-dimension, morphing into a squirrel. "You enjoyed this ride as a squirrel, but how 'bout going for a faster whirl?"
The merry-go-rounds were spinning faster. Jolene remembered they had to land on the red bird first, but it was spinning so fast, she round up hitting the front of the Grunty seat first. She could land on the tip of her broom, jump to the bird, then glide over the Pufftup to… no, her momentum couldn't keep up with the merry's. Instead, she thought backwards: Jolene jumped toward the Grunty's left, did a brief glide, and landed on the back of her broom. She climbed up and made the flight to the Jinjo-go-round. Jumping up the seats was trickier in this faster speed, but Jolene still managed. She glid to the last merry and landed on the squirrel float. She climbed the footprints up its pole and would normally have to fly forward past the Pufftups, but with this speed, Jolene flew the opposite direction again and grabbed the footprints that would lead her up to the merry's roof. Up there, Jolene could hit a switch!
Jolene popped back in the Furnace Fun as Tupu's bubble popped. "HOORAY! Thank you, Jolene!" Tupu hugged her. "I would help, but I do not know many of these questions. It is up to you!"
Jolene returned to follow the next route, starting with a normal question. "Listen close and listen well, in Egypt, where was the 'L'?" The answer was 'Behind the Life Clock.' Next was a KND space: "I'd like to kick them in the knee, how many boys are in Sector V?" 1, 2, or 5. Jolene never thought about this before. Hmm…she knew Jason…Christina…Trella…uh, who were the others? Jolene ran out of time and got shocked. "I guess you don't know your teammates well, so they wouldn't mind if you fell. Here's a new one with no more tricks, which sector no longer exists?" Sector Q, W7, or MG. Jolene didn't remember Sector W7, so she answered right. After crossing a note space, having to remember Naridon's unique voice, Jolene reached another crossroad, but the one on the right would branch to Nefertine and Luca's bubbles.
As Tupu watched Jolene answer a string of questions, getting some wrong and suffering for it, the wild girl pondered how she could help. "…Oh!" She noticed footprints leading under the start of the bridge. She hung directly upside-down, her long hair barely touching the lava. The trail led to the path to Nefertine. Jolene had just reached an eyeball space and had to observe a picture of Central Park's dam. "How many bricks do you see? Can you answer or will you flee?" Jolene put her counting skill to use and answered, "Seventeen." She answered right, but the space before Nefertine was a Death Space.
"A hidden tile?" Tupu was hanging right under that space, seeing a normal "?" tile. She kicked and caused it to flip over, so there would be no consequence to answering wrong.
"GRACK! That's not fair, you must've cheated! No matter, I won't be defeated! Just tell me now, as if you know, what is Nefertine's studio?" Answers were Netflix, Cyber Studios, or Xilam.
"Um…Cyber?"
"Grrrrr!" Grunty begrudgingly allowed Nefertine and Tanis to pop free. On their way back to the start, Nefertine suddenly sank into the first free tile: it was mural stone! "(Hey! What can I do with this?)"
Jolene followed the route to Luca's bubble, having to point out the color of Marcie's socks, remember Kaido's "Worororo" voice, she didn't know how many Jiggies the casino Cash Register could help you earn, but she did remember the bird girl from Oni Mountain was named Amaten. She then had to answer a KND question, "The Gameverse was not her first role, what was the first story of Aria Conbolt?" Answers were Day at the Bathhouse, Wendy's Mistake, and Friends Forever. Jolene didn't know what any of these meant… but wasn't Wendy Aria's mom? "Is it Wendy's Mistake?" Jolene was electrified.
"Lucas, you know, has a brother. Give his name for the sake of your mother!" Answers were Ness, Claus, or Ralph. Jolene knew Lucas and Ness were in the same team, but… were they related? She was sure he wasn't Ralph's. "Uh…Claus?" She was correct. The space before Luca's bubble was another Time Trial. It would warp Jolene to the Osirins' nightclub pyramid.
"Make your way to the top of this structure. The lights are faster, so good luck, girl!"
Fortunately, Nefertine was there to help her: she followed the mural stone underneath the bridge and entered the same portal from below. She would up under Jolene's starting point and was able to hit a secret switch, slowing the lights down. Jolene was able to undergo the trial with a more comprehensive speed. "NO!" Grunty cried. "That was a secret, how did you know?! Did some game guide tell you so?" After Jolene jumped her way up the same course and finished the trial, Luca popped free!
Jolene kept venturing the main route, answering the next string of questions, but her incorrections began to show as her body grew more charred. What Crystal Jiggy did she get in Peanutville? She didn't know what a garnet, topaz, or amber were, so she was zapped. Why did King Die replace his body with a roulette machine? He lost it in gambling. What year did the Peanuts comic end? She didn't know, but "2000" looked like a solid number, and it was right. On the route to Onari's bubble, Jolene would have to survive five Death Spaces.
"That's not fair!" Luca yelled. "I've gotta do something! Wait…" He noticed water pouring from the pipe his bubble was connected to. He squatted and jumped, grabbing the rim and clambering into the pipe. It was big enough for his head, thankfully, but the route to the Life Clock was blocked. He could, however, crawl toward Onari's bubble. He couldn't exit from the pipe, but he could push his fingers through and push the bubble off the pipe. Not only that, but the water splashed over the Death Spaces and cooled them down, turning three of them into a normal, sound, and sight tile.
"Seems we have a clog in our drain. You kids are getting to be such a pain!"
Jolene still had to answer the first two Death Tiles. "Though I haven't much a role, what was my last game on a Nintendo console?" Banjo Pilot, Smash Ultimate, or Nuts and Bolts? Jolene heard Smash was pretty popular… conveniently, it was correct! The next tile asked, "When Mack turned rogue at the playground, who pulled the trigger to shrink him down?" Christina, Laruta, or Joto? Even Jolene would never forget the trauma Mack experienced then, and remembered Joto did it.
Jolene was shown a yellow sweater pocket and had to answer it was Norton's. The sound tile played the chant of the worshippers, another easy one. This was followed by the normal question, "Onari hasn't got a nose, but who else do you know can't make their blows?" Perry's aunts, Mack's mom, or Lily's dad. Jolene remembered Robi mentioning Perry's aunts. This was the last answer needed to free Onari! "That's it!" Grunty stomped. "I'm tired of holding back! I won't cut you any slack! Once you take the final questions, I'll be on the attack!"
"Huh? I thought it was gonna rhyme with 'questions.'" Jolene scratched her head.
"SILENCE! Prepare to be fried!"
Jolene had to answer seven questions on the way to the podium, during which Grunty would shoot spells Jolene would have to jump over. "Grrrr, that cheating witch!" Raymond grumbled, trying to pry open the door. "Ugh! The door isn't even sealed with the puzzle, she used a simple locking spell! If I just had my wand, this would be…?" It was then Raymond heard a voice. A voice no one else could hear. He turned toward the exit door and walked outside. There was a certain stick that Jolene dropped. "Is that… MY WAND!" Raymond snatched the red and black wand off the ground. "Oh, baby, I missed you, mw-mw-mw! Ick, should've washed you off first." He rubbed his lips. "Now we're in business. It's over, Grunty!" Raymond rushed to the locked door and, "Alohamora!"
"The title of this story comes from elsewhere; who made that ROM hack of the bird and bear?" Answers were Grant Kirkhope, Mark Kurko, or Ryan Kirkwell. Jolene couldn't even try to guess an answer as Grunty kept shooting at her, but her spells were suddenly deflected by others. "EH?!"
"We makin' this a fair game now, Grunty!"
"Eeeeek! You're as annoying as your father! You, I will have slaughtered!"
Jolene was able to catch her breath. "…Is it Mark Kurko?"
"DRAT!" Jolene moved to a sight space. "See the girl on my screen?" Grunty showed a picture of Dot. "How many movies has she been een?" 7, 8, or 9.
"Grunty, that didn't even rhyme." Raymond remarked. "Isn't 'een' Chinese for 9?"
"Is it 9?" Jolene answered.
"UGH!" Jolene moved to a normal space. "The secret level in Peanutville, who's needed to reach it, if you will?" Dr. Facilier, Robi, or Jataro.
Jolene promised to bring Robi to meet the Peanuts. "Robi?"
"CORRECT!!" Grunty hammered her fist in frustration. She was clearly agitated as she asked a sound question. "Listen to this tune, it's the opening to which cartoon?!" She played a song that kind of sounded like violins and accordions. Pirates Next Door, Luca, or Nefertine on the Nile? It kind of sounded like music you'd hear for pirates… so Jolene picked the former. "EEEK!" That meant she was correct again. On a KND space, Grunty asked, "Now I'm really getting pissed, which sector has a story after this?!" Was it IC, Q, or L?
"Uhhh…Quuuue?"
"WRONG!" Grunty excitedly zapped her. "You're doomed to never find a husband! Who is Don Quixote Veronica's cousin?" Jolene Kemuri, Charmy Pappitson, or Serena Beatles? Jolene knew it wasn't herself. Maybe it was… "Serena?" Grunty screeched angrily and allowed Jolene entry to a Death Space. "You'll never pass, you little twit! How many total Jiggies are there to get?" 70, 80, or 100?
"Is it, um, uh…s-s-seventy?"
"DREK! THAT'S CORRECT!" Jolene moved to the final space, a Time Trial. Jolene jumped in and landed in Ammit's battle arena, the crocodile spirit towering over her. "Ammit, this is your second chance! Show this girl a deadly dance!"
"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Onari flew into the tile as well. She could strike Ammit with lightning to halt her fast sweeping. The battle proceeded as it did before, but during the phase where Ammit crouched down and started gnashing, Jolene molded out giant Clay Fists with the Crystal Jiggies as the knuckles. She punched and thrashed the giant gator into submission, and the moment Jolene's fist flew for the final blow, she was poofed back into the quiz room.
"RAAAAK!" Jolene's fist continued to fly, straight at Grunty, smashing her up into the Life Clock. The Jiggy knuckles destroyed the clock on impact. Robi's glass prison shattered from the force, the old beaver inside tumbling and bouncing down to Jolene. (End song.)
"ROBI!" The Friends of Time ran and stopped behind Jolene (the bridge was too narrow to get around them). Jolene knelt over Robi's withered face, awed as the youth slowly returned to him.
"…?" Robi's aged vision finally cleared. He was warmed and grateful that Jolene's face was the first thing he saw. "Jolene… you saved me."
"These guys were here first." The friends peeked around Jolene with smiles.
"Huhu! You really are Numbuh Miracle…" Robi took Jolene's hand and pulled himself up. "Mwwwwuh!" And he pecked her on the cheek. "Hehe! That's what Peach does when Mario saves her, huh?"
"Uhhh…" Her gray, blobbish cheeks flushed red.
"RAAAAAH!" Gruntilda threw her question cards in the air in fury. "It's not fair! I should've won! All I wanted was to be nice and young! How could this nitwit know so much? And deliver such a feisty punch?! Very well…" her head drooped, "take the prizes on show. While down the winding STAIRS I go!" She spun toward a passage on the right. "I've still got plans, so it's time to roll! I won't stop 'til I achieve my goal! And by now, my Grunties have captured your friends. It won't be long 'til they meet their ends. So long, brats, can't stay to chat. I've got an old home to be at."
The witch made a dash to the door. "DON'T LET HER GET AWAY!" Raymond yelled. The friends charged after her, practically tumbling down the winding stairs. Grunty zapped the ceilings to make rocks fall, but the earthbenders shattered them out of the way. They lost sight of Grunty by the time they reached the bottom. All they found down there… was a nice, small, blue house embedded into the wall.
"You cannot hide in there!" Tupu pounced the house's yellow door to pry it open, but it was locked tight. "Darn it! What do we need to do now?"
"(Let's check in here!)" Nefertine pointed through a different passage. Inside, they would need climb a spiral pillar, first KOing a Grublin, Armored Snippet, Yellow Flibbit, several Flatsos, and finally a Dark Gruntling at the top. A puzzle pedestal was at the very top, facing up at another portrait.
"A puzzle!" Robi beamed. "You know what to do, Jolene!" She nodded and raised 13 Jiggies to float into the portrait, depicting a valley with a similar, spiral mountain, and a lair resembling Gruntilda's head with a tower embedded in the cliff. With that, they returned down to the blue house. The yellow door opened, and the world's label magically spawned above it.
"Spiral Mountain is open." Jolene pointed. "We can go in there now."
"So, is that another timeline?" Luca asked.
"It ain't just any timeline!" Raymond gasped. "That place… is Gruntilda's homeland! I recognize it!"
"So, that's where she's hiding, huh?" Robi said, eyes curved with determination. "Well… what should we do, Jolene?"
"Uh…we gotta beat her, right?"
"Yep! But now that we're together again, we can also go back to the other worlds. I bet there's new places we can get to, too. You never know if we'll still need Jiggies. But I'll do what you wanna do, Jolene. You're the leader!"
"Leader…" Jolene faced the other Friends of Time. They acknowledged her with nods of affirmation! Jolene survived and made it this far to save them all. After she passed Grunty's quiz, they would trust whatever she decided. …Jolene smiled, raised her fist, and declared, "Follow the leadeeeeerrrr!"
…
…
"Hmph. I can't believe Gruntilda let herself be outwitted." The Fairy grit her teeth. "But the game isn't over, yet. Even if she loses in the end, I will be there to smite those worms. For now, I'll let her do as she pleases. And best of all… the seed has been planted in that boy. He'll find the Firstborn… and then they will both be mine. Hahahahahaha!"